McDonalds to be held liable for franchises

kaitie

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...od-workers-score-a-big-win-against-mcdonalds/

Okay, I'm pretty happy about this. Essentially, one of the reasons it's been difficult for workers to get better pay is because of the franchise system McDonald's uses. This ruling means that the company itself can be held responsible for poor wages and such of the franchises, which should allow better organizing and give the workers a better chance to improve their situation.

A little background from me, though. This is personal experience, so I don't have much in the way of sources. My SO's family owns a McDonald's. They have, for years, tried to provide a living wage to employees and offer better benefits than most of the franchises. They are also constantly being told by corporate that they need to lower wages (even though they are turning a nice profit) and cut benefits. They've stood up against it, but it's gotten to the point where corporate is trying to shut their store down so they can open another one with a different owner. We're talking a lot of pressure here to keep wages and benefits depressed so that corporate can bring in more money.

However, whenever there is a strike of workers, or complaints about the situation, the reply from corporate is always, "Well, those decisions are up to the franchise owners and we have no say over that." Essentially, they're pushing franchise owners to do certain things, and then blaming the franchise owners for those same things. It's been a pretty messed up situation.

So I'm pretty excited about this ruling. I think at least a large part of the responsibility for wages lies on the shoulders of corporate itself, and that this is finally going to stop McDonald's from hiding behind the franchise owners. Maybe now something will actually be done and the workers at what is arguably one of the crappiest places to work in the country will actually have a better chance.
 

Devil Ledbetter

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I appreciate your perspective, Kaitie. When I first heard this story I thought "Well, the franchise owners are the employers." But if McDonald's corporate is ramming how to treat employees down the franchise's throats, then hell yes corporate should be held liable for decisions that affect the employees.
 

kaitie

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I think in the past I would have seen this as overreach, but after seeing first-hand the hoops that franchise owners go through, and how difficult it is for them to have any real say in the matter, it's really changed my mind.
 

blacbird

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Franchising is a major way big corporations like McDonald's evade responsibility for behavior. Essentially, the franchisee is under the corporate thumb for the way the business operates. All supplies, marketing techniques, advertising, etc., is 100% corporate controlled. But, oh now, when a problem arises, that's the fault of the franchisee. Has always worked like a charm. Let's see how that goes forward . . .

caw
 

Don

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"Franchise" and "feudalism" both start with "f". Coincidence? I don't think so. YMMV. :)
 

Xelebes

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In other McDonalds news, McDonalds Canada is being sued by the TFW agency for not receiving payment for the temporary foreign workers that were hired. Apparently, McDonalds simply deducted the fees from the workers pay (a big no-no) and paid the agency with those deductions. Previously, McDonalds lost its permits for Temporary Foreign Workers after whistles were blown on its hiring practices (prefering TFWs over people who applied locally.)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tem...-actyl-group-sues-mcdonald-s-canada-1.2723240